Marian Devotion and the Coming Second Wave of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Marian Devotion and the Coming Second Wave of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Catholics and Protestants Together in Charismatic Renewal?
Perhaps nothing makes more of a laughingstock out of global Church unity in Spirit and worship than the contentious issue of Marian devotion. Some Catholics truly worship Mary as if she were the fourth person of the Trinity, in spite of official Catholic theology to the contrary. Marian devotion had a role in undermining the Catholic charismatic renewal in the 1980s. Protestants, on the other hand, have a difficult time in saying what the Bible says about Mary, that she is “blessed among women.” Here is a controversial blog on the issue from an Anglican priest and former Roman Catholic.
Quotes from the article selected by the Editor:
For some reason I was not comfortable about Marian devotion as a boy. … My childhood as a Catholic was lived under the cloud of the ominous “Fatima prophecies” that came from apparitions that were supposedly from Mary at Fatima, Portugal in 1917.
In fact, several prominent Catholic theologians have consistently warned of the dangers of excessive Marian devotion to the revivals of the Holy Spirit. The Jesuit priest and historian of the Catholic Charismatic renewal, Fr. Peter Hocken, warned that excessive Marian devotion is a danger to authentic revival and true reverence of Mary.
On the level of formal theology and ecumenical dialogue, much progress has been made in Catholic-Protestant communications about Mary and the honor due her. Formal Catholic theology has backed off declaring Mary as the “mediatrix” of all graces. …
My own opinion is that there is no way to dialogue into a “midpoint” that all will agree upon. Catholics will venerate Mary to a degree that Protestants feel uncomfortable with, and Catholics will not be content with the degree that Protestants consider and honor Mary.
… the Holy Spirit constantly surprises when a new revival begins, and this may be true of Marian devotion in the future. The Pentecostals of the 1960s were astounded when the Holy Spirit enlivened the mainline denomination into what became the Charismatic Renewal. They thought the mainline churches were too far gone into apostasy to be renewed. The Pentecostals were further astounded when the Catholics began experiencing Holy Spirit revival in 1967. They were sure the Catholic Church was the Biblically prophesied “whore of Babylon” and could not be redeemed from its idolatry. They were wrong about that, too. One can only wonder what the Spirit will do in the coming revival.
Category: Ministry, Spring 2020
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